Recover Lost Zip File Password With Passware Kit Pro

May 1, 2017

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4 min read

Do you have a locked zip file lying around? Then follow the steps below to learn how you can recover the lost zip password.

Encrypted Zip files are any easy and convenient method to store sensitive information locally. Today’s zip archiver software such as Winzip use high-grade encryption algorithms such as AES encryption. So, there is no way to crack open them easily and if you ever fail to remember the password you used to encrypt the zip, there is no “Forgot Password” option too. Your only choice is to use any zip password recovery software. We have already written an article on unzipping password protected zip files without password using the Advanced Zip Password Recovery Tool.

Not every software works for all. So I am gonna share with you another popular zip password recovery software and it’s called Passware Kit Pro. This one is used by big companies, forensics, etc. The software is packed with features to enhance the password recovery process. Let’s jump on to that!

Requirements

Passware Kit Features

Hardware AccelerationPassware Kit claims that their software run up to 400 times faster with GPU hardware acceleration. The software works perfectly with both AMD and nVidia graphics card but Nvidia seems to perform better in the benchmarks shown on their site.

Distributed Password RecoveryPassware Kit Forensic and Passware Kit Business versions come with a very special feature called distributed password recovery. What it means is that if you have multiple computers available, then you could use all of its computing power to speed up the recovery process. The software will act as a server and distribute the computing work to the connected computers. This will dramatically reduce the time taken for recovering the lost zip file password.

How long will it take?

That depends on the type of attack you perform. Dictionary attacks take only a few seconds. However, most passwords aren’t plain English words. So Brute force attacks are commonly performed and those may take few minutes to days, weeks, months or even years! Thankfully, the Business and Forensic version of Passware Kit comes with distributed password recovery about which I’ve already mentioned.

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” -Aristotle

In our tests, the dictionary attack performed very well by returning the password in just 2 seconds [password-marvelous]. The joined dictionary attack also performed extremely well by taking just 3 seconds to crack the password [password-test123]. Those aren’t the best passwords to try but it gives you a very small glimpse of this beastly software.

Recover Lost Zip Password using Passware Kit Pro

Now, let’s see how to open any password protected zip file without password using Passware Kit software.

Open Passware Kit software.

Click on recover file password and open the password protected file.

Now, you will be left with 3 options to choose from. I would recommend you to use the ‘Run Wizard’ option from the three.

Go through the wizard and provide all information you know about the password. The more you know about the password, the faster you can recover it.

Click next and complete the wizard.

Wait for the process to finish. If you are lucky, you’ll be prompted with a password!

How to protect your zip files from zip password unlocker tools?

We have now seen the technique used to recover the lost zip file password. So is it safe to leave your sensitive information in zips locked with less secure passwords? Hell no! You should definitely use strong passwords to lock down your important files. I would suggest you use any password generator such as elpassword.

So, were you successful in recovering the lost password?How long did it take? Let us know in the comments.